Tiger Woods Realty Show Episode Three: Play Good For Mom !

The Tiger Woods Traveling Reality Show comes to Eldrick’s stomping grounds this week.  This episode stars the 14-time major champion with his mom,  Kultida in the early morning gallery.  Be on your best behavior, Tiger!

It was a perfect morning at the Honda Classic.  A respectful, orderly crowd had gathered on the 10th hole at PGA National.  Less than a thousand, it’s early, before eight o’clock, the power-drinkers are back home in bed, still hung-over from the previous night.  No screaming, no craziness, perhaps Tiger can get some work in on this Thursday.

Conditions weren’t easy.  Winds were whipping up to 20 miles per hour and the greens weren’t in a mood for holding golf shots.  Woods would describe them and use the term “scratchy” at least three times.

After a nice save at the 10th, Woods wasted no time getting into red numbers.  He rolled in a 15-footer at the 11th for birdie, saved another par at the 12th then hit a fairway at 13 and stuck a wedge in there about six feet and made his second birdie of the day.  Two-under and he’s up there on the leader board.  Crowds grew a bit but not to the size they’ll be on Friday afternoon.  It was evident that Woods was working hard, pars at 14 and 15 then at 16 he made a mistake from the fairway and caught a greenside bunker on the par four.  He blasted to just outside eight feet and missed.

Tiger missed a great opportunity for birdie at the par five 18th.  From 98 yards, he hit a wedge shot he’d like to have back.  Left it 40 feet short, no chance for birdie but made the turn one-under, a number many wishes they had.

The driver was still his enemy.  He used it seven times and found the fairway just once.  One of those misses proved costly at the par five third.  He found a bunker guarding the right side of the hole, had to lay pretty far back to avoid the lip then pulled his third into a greenside bunker.  His bunker play has been less than stellar in this comeback and he left his third in the sand then barely got his fourth on the fringe.  He bellied a wedge to three feet and missed the bogey putt.  DOUBLE.  “Got a wind gust and pushed it,” Woods would later use as the reason he missed that shorty.

Give Woods credit for bouncing back immediately.  He planted a three-wood in the fairway at the par four fourth then stuck his wedge shot from 98 yards to six feet.  Got one back.

From there Woods carefully plodded his way to the clubhouse with five straight pars to shoot 70.  A nice round for Mom.

He summed up  his day’s efforts:

“I felt good, I felt very solid.  It was a tough day out there for all of us — even par was a good score.  I had pretty good control of the golf ball all day. The greens were scratchy, they have no root system.  When the ball lands on the green you can see the sand fly up.  I was able to leave myself some easy up-and-downs.”

He then shot a warning to the afternoon wave:

“It’s gonna be hard to make birdies unless you hit it close.”

By day’s end, the scoring average for the field was approaching 73, which put Woods in a really good spot.

Barring a total Friday collapse, he’ll be around for all 72 holes.

Friday will get tougher for him unless the wind go away.

The power drinkers will call in sick and they’ll be there at the first tee,  screaming their loudest when his day begins at 12:35 p.m.

By the time he reaches those stands at the Bear Trap, they’ll be three sheets to the wind.

So just let the guy work, you don’t need to scream ‘TIGER!!” and please, no “GET-IN-THE-HOLE” when he hits a tee shot on a par five.

Keep it somewhat civil, which is really asking a lot.

After all, Mom’s in the gallery.